Will Buller will be looking to run well at the Nurburgring. © British F3
With the start of the British F3 season now nine weeks away, Championship organisers SRO have had to make a slight alteration to the calendar.
Originally the series’ visit to the Nurburgring – originally planned for mid-September – has now been moved to the beginning of July due to circumstances beyond the control of SRO. Thankfully, there was enough flexibility for the parties to secure a new date.
Unfortunately, as a result of the change, the Nurburgring race now clashes with the Festival of Speed at Goodwood, during which the Championship leader was to give demonstration runs to the crowd. This has now been forsaken; however an alternative mid-season prize is currently being considered. It will be the first British Formula 3 race at the Nurburgring since 2005.
At this stage, thirteen of the eighteen places available for the opening round of the 2011 British F3 Championship have thus been filled. With Formula BMW Europe runner-up Jack Harvey and Formula Renault UK stalwart Harry Tincknell joining the likes Rupert Svendsen-Cook, Felipe Nasr and Lucas Foresti, this year’s title battle could be as tense as come.
Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series – revised provisional calendar
Date / Circuit / Championships
08 Mar Silverstone, UK Media & Test Day
——–
14-16 April Monza, Italy Blancpain Endurance Series
23 & 25 April Oulton Park, UK British GT & UK support package
14/15 May Snetterton 300, UK British GT & UK support package
18/19 June Brands Hatch GP, UK British GT & UK support package
01-03 July Nürburgring, Germany
(package undecided)
15-17 July Paul Ricard, France FIA GT1 World Championship
28-30 July Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium Spa 24 Hours
03/04 September Rockingham, UK British GT & UK support package
24/25 September Donington Park GP, UK British GT & UK support package
07-09 October Silverstone Arena, UK British GT, Blancpain Endurance & supports
Ricardo Tormo circuit.
At the conclusion of the third day of testing in Valencia yesterday, Renault’s Robert Kubica took the top spot with a headline grabbing run in the R31, securing a fastest lap of 1:13.144 late in the afternoon.
The Pole was a mere 0.057 of-a-second ahead of Force India pilot, Adrian Sutil, who had the busiest day of all thanks to 117 laps around the Ricardo Tormo circuit. Sutil had a healthy gap back to the next runner, Jenson Button, who turned in the final laps for the MP4-25 with a best of 1:13.553. Next up was Mark Webber in the Red Bull RB7 who was finally getting some running following a stuttered day on Wednesday.
The Australian finished the day just under eight-tenths slower than Kubica, although Webber still had a better time of it than 5th place Felipe Massa – the Brazilian driver suffered an oil failure early in the day causing him to spin his Ferrari, before starting a brief fire at the rear of his F150 machine. Although Massa got back out in the afternoon, it was an unfortunate way for him to start the final running.
Timo Glock (6th, Virgin), Pastor Maldonado (7th, Williams), Sergio Perez (8th, Sauber) and Michael Schumacher (9th, Mercedes) were next up – all managed to break the century lap barrier and while it might be expected for Glock, Maldonado and Perez to be further down the list, it was something of a surprise to see Schumacher 1.4 seconds off the pace. As always though, it is impossible to tell who is doing what at these early sessions; however neither the Mercedes nor Schumacher have shown startling laps as of yet when on short runs.
Sebastien Buemi claimed 10th spot in his Toro Rosso with a best of 1:14.803, while Hispania’s Narain Karthikeyan returned to the rear of the pack – his quickest turn of pace saw the Indian 3.4 seconds slower than Kubica. Jarno Trulli trailed the sheets, but did not set a time – instead the Italian completed installation run after installation run.
Unfortunately, the Lotus T128 suffered a power steering failure yesterday, but with spares not arriving in time for the last day, it left Trulli with little to do beyond the occasional systems check; however because the team did not start testing until Wednesday, the Norfolk based squad are able to avail of a further day’s running today.
Tellingly, when on short runs this week, the drivers have been setting a pace around the 1:13-1:14 mark; however when switching to longer runs, the drop-off in laptime was quite considerable (up to five seconds per tour), followed by an even greater lossage of time once the Pirelli’s faded badly.
Testing continues next week in Jerez.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Robert Kubica Renault 1m13.144s 95 2. Adrian Sutil Force India Mercedes* 1m13.201s +0.057 117 3. Jenson Button McLaren Mercedes* 1m13.553s +0.409 105 4. Mark Webber Red Bull Renault 1m13.936s +0.792 105 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m14.017s +0.873 80 6. Timo Glock Virgin Cosworth* 1m14.207s +1.063 114 7. Pastor Maldonado Williams Cosworth 1m14.299s +1.155 101 8. Sergio Perez Sauber Ferrari 1m14.469s +1.325 104 9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m14.537s +1.393 110 10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso Ferrari 1m14.801s +1.657 73 11. Narain Karthikeyan HRT Cosworth* 1m16.535s +3.391 63 12. Jarno Trulli Lotus Renault no time 38
Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Sometimes when time is precious, it often slips from our fingertips, whittled away by circumstances beyond our control.
Yesterday, at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, the lingering effects of a sandstorm halted running for long periods, before rain showers interfered further with track time. During a period when the new GP2/11 cars needed to be on track to gain valuable information, fog set in.
One hour had passed before any cars could venture out and when they did, it was Ferrari-junior driver, Jules Bianchi that set the fastest pace of the morning (1:50.007). The Frenchman in his Lotus-ART machine found himself only marginally quicker than the Barwa Addax pilot, Giedo van der Garde, with Sam Bird (3rd, 1:50.120) and Charles Pic (4th, 1:50.166) shadowing.
The loss of time severely limited running for much of the field, with Bianchi banking the highest number of laps before lunch (27); however most of the entrants completed between 14 and 19 tours of the circuit. Three red flags during the morning did not help matters as the field endured a stuttered session.
The afternoon stint was a much cleaner affair; however the top-four from morning repeated this feat later in the day, albeit in a slightly different order. This time around van der Garde led the way with a 1:48.499 – a clear three-tenths ahead of iSport’s Sam Bird. Again, neither driver held out for significant stints (17 and 14 laps respectively); however they did secure more track time than 3rd place Bianchi – the Frenchman completed only 12 laps.
Pic was next up, as he notched up 23 laps with a best time of 1:49.156 in his Barwa Addax machine. Romain Grosjean (DAMS) and Max Chilton (Carlin) were the busiest during the afternoon; both completed 25 laps as they attempt to understand the new GP2 car – the pair finished approximately one second off of van der Garde’s pace in 7th and 8th places respectively.
The day was cut 15 minutes early when Scuderia Coloni driver, James Jakes damaged the barriers in an accident. By the time the GP2 cars fire up at the next test on Sunday, hopefully all the poor weather and bad luck will have dissipated.
Morning session
| Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps | |
| 1. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:50.007 | 27 |
| 2. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:50.066 | 18 |
| 3. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:50.120 | 11 |
| 4. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:50.166 | 19 |
| 5. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:50.276 | 13 |
| 6. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:50.343 | 24 |
| 7. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:50.539 | 15 |
| 8. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | 1:50.544 | 15 |
| 9. | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:50.561 | 18 |
| 10. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:50.616 | 14 |
| 11. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:50.641 | 24 |
| 12. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:50.787 | 16 |
| 13. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 1:50.894 | 20 |
| 14. | Nathanael Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:5-.969 | 16 |
| 15. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:51.122 | 15 |
| 16. | Johnny Cecotto | Super Nova Racing | 1:51.190 | 16 |
| 17. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:51.198 | 18 |
| 18. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | 1:51.347 | 20 |
| 19. | James Jakes | Scuderia Coloni | 1:51.369 | 16 |
| 20. | Oliver Turvey | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:51.456 | 19 |
| 21. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 1:51.482 | 21 |
| 22. | Andrea Caldarelli | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:51.571 | 6 |
| 23. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:51.615 | 16 |
| 24. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:51.760 | 14 |
| 25. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:51.802 | 21 |
| 26. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:52.141 | 19 |
Afternoon session
| Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps | |
| 1. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:48.499 | 17 |
| 2. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:48.778 | 14 |
| 3. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:48.868 | 12 |
| 4. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:49.156 | 23 |
| 5. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | 1:49.185 | 20 |
| 6. | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:49.220 | 13 |
| 7. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | 1:49.340 | 25 |
| 8. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:49.413 | 25 |
| 9. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:49.431 | 20 |
| 10. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:49.474 | 14 |
| 11. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 1:49.591 | 20 |
| 12. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:49.627 | 19 |
| 13. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:49.740 | 15 |
| 14. | Andrea Caldarelli | Ocean racing Technology | 1:49.888 | 23 |
| 15. | Johnny Cecotto | Super Nova Racing | 1:49.914 | 24 |
| 16. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:49.945 | 14 |
| 17. | Nathanael Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:49.956 | 19 |
| 18. | Oliver Turvey | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:49.982 | 19 |
| 19. | James Jakes | Scuderia Coloni | 1:50.129 | 9 |
| 20. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:50.207 | 16 |
| 21. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:50.310 | 15 |
| 22. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:50.495 | 22 |
| 23. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:50.566 | 20 |
| 24. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:50.703 | 13 |
| 25. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 1:50.727 | 16 |
| 26. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:50.995 | 17 |
Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit.
Fernando Alonso upped the testing ante today, as he headed the order in Valencia.
The Ferrari man registered 108 laps – only three short of the day’s busiest runner Paul di Resta – and clocked up a best of 1:13.307 in the process.
Alonso was a comfortable three-tenths faster than the next driver, Sebastian Vettel; however the German only managed 43 laps throughout the second day.
Vettel’s Australian teammate, Mark Webber, finally got to take to the new RB7 this afternoon, but problems during the installation run limited Webber’s running to 17 tours of the Spanish course. Webber secured the 14th fastest lap, but more running tomorrow should hopefully see him further up the timesheets.
Force India’s long running di Resta was next up with a 1:13.844 in last year’s VJM03 machine and he was followed by the Mercedes-powered McLaren, piloted by 2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton (1:14.353).
Hamilton, who was also in an interim 2010-car, completed a solid 83 laps. Renault’s Robert Kubica was the third driver to break a century of laps. The Pole clocked up the 5th fastest time in the new R31 machine, some 1.1 seconds slower than Alonso’s pace.
Narain Karthikeyan raised some late-afternoon eyebrows with the 6th fastest lap in the 2010 Hispania racer. Although the Indian completed 80 laps, it would not be a shock to discover the Spanish car would be shy of fuel.
Several years ago, it would not have been a surprise to see several back of the grid teams run on empty to claim not only glory laps, but the attention of the untrained or unwary sponsor. While that practice has become somewhat rarer nowadays, Karthikeyan’s mysterious pace in an old, slow and barely-sponsored car points to old ways that have not fully died down.
A team not running on fumes for the sake of sponsorship dollars is Mercedes. Following a tough day yesterday blighted by hydraulic problems, Nico Rosberg completed 69 laps, with a fastest 1.33 seconds down on the fast Ferrari. Timo Glock took over the 2010 Virgin car from Jerome d’Ambrosio and placed his Cosworth-powered runner 8th, over half-a-second quicker of the Williams of Rubens Barrichello (9th) and Sergio Perez in the Sauber (10th).
Sadly for Perez, the Mexican only notched up 42 laps before the power train gave way. Barrichello ran 50 laps before handing his Williams over to new teammate Pastor Maldonado, who in turn registered 29 tours and an 11th fastest time of 1:16.266.
Next were the Toro Rosso pair of Sebastian Buemi (12th, 1:16.359) and Jaime Alguersuari (13th, 1:13.474) – the young guns split the STR6 between them.
Last on the sheets was Heikki Kovalainen in his Lotus T128 – unfortunately the Finn could not set a representative time and only managed 15 laps due to a power steering failure.
The test continues tomorrow morning.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari 1m13.307s 108 2. Vettel Red Bull Renault 1m13.614s +0.307 43 3. Di Resta Force India Mercedes 1m13.844s +0.537 111 * 4. Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 1m14.353s +1.046 83 * 5. Kubica Renault 1m14.412s +1.105 104 6. Karthikeyan HRT Cosworth 1m14.472s +1.165 80 * 7. Rosberg Mercedes 1m14.645s +1.338 69 8. Glock Virgin Cosworth 1m15.408s +2.101 34 * 9. Barrichello Williams Cosworth 1m16.023s +2.716 51 10. Perez Sauber Ferrari 1m16.198s +2.891 42 11. Maldonado Williams Cosworth 1m16.266s +2.959 29 12. Buemi Toro Rosso Ferrari 1m16.359s +3.052 46 13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso Ferrari 1m16.474s +3.167 64 14. Webber Red Bull Renault 1m17.365s +4.058 17 15. Kovalainen Lotus Renault 1m20.649s +7.342 15 * 2010 car All Timing Unofficial
Yas Marina circuit.
While Formula 1 busies itself in Valencia at its opening test sessions of the season, twenty-six GP2 machines lined up at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit for the first day of pre-season work.
Former Renault driver, Romain Grosjean topped the opening day, but it was some time before any representative running could be achieved. Yesterday’s localised sandstorm had left the circuit shrouded in layers of dust, leaving much of the field to just complete installation laps in the morning.
Eventually Stefano Coletti topped the morning time sheets with 1:54.161. Although the Trident racer completed only eight laps, it was enough to see Monegasque resident ahead of Carlin’s Max Chilton. Coletti’s Trident teammate, Rodolfo Gonzalez was 3rd quickest, one-tenth faster than Giedo van der Garde in his Barwa Addax machine.
The Racing Engineering pair of Nathanael Berthon and Dani Clos were 5th and 6th quickest respectively. As the clock ticked down, the session was culled 30 minutes early to allow for further track cleaning.
It made for an interesting début for the third generation machine, officially known as the GP2/11 and while its morning running may been light, Renault power sang freely during the afternoon.
Incredibly, rain began to fall at the beginning of the second session, thereby condemning the opening hour to further silence. As cars slowly bled onto the circuit, the dampness was washed away and laptimes quickly reduced.
By the chequered flag Grosjean had claimed both the fastest lap and the most running, as the Swiss driver notched up 39 laps on his way to a 1:49.768. The DAMS driver is expected to be a Championship challenger this season, but tellingly another title contender, Jules Bianchi, ran Grosjean close in the final minutes. Coletti and van der Garde continued their impressive runs with 3rd and 4th respectively, while van der Garde’s teammate, Charles Pic secured a top-five lap with a 1:50.477.
Britain’s Oliver Turvey announced this week that he had scraped a GP2 Asia deal together with Ocean Racing Technology and he rewarded the Portuguese team with top-ten lap, albeit 1.2 seconds slower than Grosjean. Max Chilton dropped to 13th by the end of the day and the two other British runners, James Jakes and Sam Bird, completed only 17 laps between them over the course of the entire day.
The second day of testing commences at 5am (GMT) tomorrow morning.
Morning Session
| Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps | |
| 1. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:54.161 | 8 |
| 2. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:54.810 | 5 |
| 3. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:55.347 | 8 |
| 4. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:55.496 | 5 |
| 5. | Nathanael Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:55.803 | 6 |
| 6. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:56.654 | 7 |
| 7. | Oliver Turvey | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:57.134 | 6 |
| 8. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:57.408 | 5 |
| 9. | Andrea Caldarelli | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:58.195 | 7 |
| 10. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:59.827 | 8 |
| 11. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 2:00.373 | 4 |
| 12. | James Jakes | Scuderia Coloni | 2:01.180 | 3 |
| 13. | Johnny Cecotto | Super Nova Racing | 2:02.287 | 5 |
| 14. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 2:07.039 | 4 |
| 15. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 2:19.672 | 10 |
| 16. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | — | 2 |
| 17. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | — | 1 |
| 18. | Sam Bird | iSport International | — | 1 |
| 19. | Josef Kral | Ardent International | — | 1 |
| 20. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | — | 1 |
| 21. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | — | 1 |
| 22. | Julian Leal | Rapax | — | 1 |
| 23. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | — | 1 |
| 24. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | — | 1 |
| 25. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | — | 0 |
| 26. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | — | 0 |
Afternoon Session
| Driver | Team | Laptime | Laps | |
| 1. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | 1:49.768 | 39 |
| 2. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:50.212 | 30 |
| 3. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:50.388 | 9 |
| 4. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:50.474 | 21 |
| 5. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:50.477 | 20 |
| 6. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:50.526 | 29 |
| 7. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:50.580 | 16 |
| 8. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:50.727 | 31 |
| 9. | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:50.820 | 17 |
| 10. | Oliver Turvey | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:50.992 | 19 |
| 11. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | 1:51.004 | 21 |
| 12. | Nathanael Berthon | Racing Engineering | 1:51.046 | 22 |
| 13. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:51.111 | 17 |
| 14. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:51.127 | 19 |
| 15. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:51.169 | 29 |
| 16. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:51.362 | 30 |
| 17. | Andrea Caldarelli | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:51.396 | 26 |
| 18. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 1:51.505 | 32 |
| 19. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:51.636 | 21 |
| 20. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:51.662 | 25 |
| 21. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 1:51.765 | 17 |
| 22. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:52.021 | 23 |
| 23. | Johnny Cecotto | Super Nova Racing | 1:52.206 | 30 |
| 24. | James Jakes | Scuderia Coloni | 1:52.587 | 9 |
| 25. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:52.616 | 4 |
| 26. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 2:05.096 | 21 |
GP3 will not grace Monaco this year. © Drew Gibson/GP3 Media Service.
This years GP3 Series will now not take in a race at Monaco.
The Formula 1 feeder championship had announced that it was in discussions to hold a race at the famed venue during the final weekend in May.
Unfortunately, due to lack of space in an already crowded environment, the GP3 event has had to be shelved for this year at least.
As well as the Grand Prix itself, GP2, World Series by Renault and the Porsche Supercup Series also run over the weekend.
With the exclusion of the principality, this year’s GP3 Championship will now comprise of eight race weekends; however a further two days of testing has been added to bolster the season calendar. The test is to be held in June, although both the date and venue have yet to be announced.
Revised 2011 GP3 schedule:
Test 3-4 March Paul Ricard Test 29-31 March Silverstone Test 12-14 April Barcelona Race 7-8 May Istanbul Race 21-22 May Barcelona Test TBA June TBA Race 25-26 June Valencia Race 9-10 July Silverstone Race 23-24 July Nurburgring Race 30-31 July Hungaroring Race 27-28 August Spa Race 10-11 September Monza
During today’s Formula 1 test at Valencia, several teams tried out the new flexible rear wing.
The top level of the wing, which will be usable at any time during practice and qualifying, flattens somewhat, thereby removing drag and allowing the car to pick up higher speed on the straights. It, of course, has pros and cons.
Firstly the wing (along with the re-introduced KERS) will potentially allow for truly remarkable top-end speeds. However, utilising the flexible rear wing will also require spreading gear ratios, especially when in 7th where a very long may be necessary to garner the ultimate speed. There may be other complications and benefits that I have not considered.
For the Grand Prix themselves, the wing can only be activated on particular straights and only when the car following is within one second of the machine they are attempting to overtake. The chasing car will be notified electronically as to when they are close enough, at which point, the top level of the wing may be “flattened” – the driver in front cannot use this device to defend his position. The flexible rear wing cannot be used in the opening two laps of a race.
Whether this makes racing any better remains to be seen; however earlier today the FIA announced that should overtaking become too easy, then the rear wing elements may be “fixed” to keep some level of difficulty in place. It is a good move indeed.
Overtaking should never be easy – make it so and soon passing becomes even more dull than twenty races at the Hungaroring or Barcelona and when everyone is overtaking all of the time, who will care?
The video, below, is footage of Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi deploying the flexible rear wing of his C30 machine at various points around the Valencia circuit.
Ricardo Tormo circuit at Valencia.
Sebastian Vettel started 2011 just as he had finished 2010, as he topped the time sheets on the first day of testing at Valencia.
The reigning World Champion notched up 93 laps in the RB7 – Red Bull’s newly designed and built title challenger. Vettel set a fastest lap of 1:13.769 – a lap that was less than two-tenths of-a-second quicker than the man up, Nico Hulkenberg. The Force India reserve set his best time midway through the day, but did so in the 2010 car, before handing the VJM03 over to Grand Prix débutante, Paul di Resta.
The Scot secured the fourth fastest lap, but was only able to manage 28 tours of the Valencia circuit; however di Resta is set to continue his Force India running tomorrow.
Between the Force India pair was McLaren reserve and DTM runner, Gary Paffett. The Englishman piloted an interim version of the MP4-25, placing the Woking-based car 0.523 of-a-second shy of Vettel.
Fernando Alonso was the next 2011-spec car on the timing sheets, as he delivered 5th spot for the Ferrari F150. The double-World Champion completed 98 laps laps – the most of anyone today – finishing 0.784 adrift of the pace setting lap. Kamui Kobayashi was next up in the new Sauber C30 with a best lap of 1:15.621; less than four-tenths ahead of Virgin’s Jerome d’Ambrosio.
The Renault team raised some eyebrows today when they made their track début. An ambitious design that sees their exhaust system exit via the front of the sidepods is certainly a novel approach to channelling hot air beneath the car. However, the secondary pilot, Vitaly Petrov was only able to clock up 28 laps today, with a best lap of 1:16.351 this afternoon. Teammate Robert Kubica takes to the R31 tomorrow – it will be interesting to see what the favoured Pole can achieve with the machine.
Michael Schumacher ran only 15 laps this afternoon as his Mercedes MGP W02 machine suffered hydraulic problems early in the day during Nico Rosberg’s short run. As a result neither driver was able to set a competitive time, with Schumacher 9th on the time sheets and 2.7 seconds off of Vettel’s pace. Rosberg claimed 13th and last spot, while 6.2 seconds adrift.
Jaime Alguersuari rounded out the top-10 in his new Toro Rosso STR6, although the Spaniard only managed 19 laps. Worryingly for Williams, Rubens Barrichello was 11th fastest, some 3.6 seconds slower than Vettel and only 0.7 of-a-second ahead of Hispania Racing’s Narain Karthikeyan.
Of the twelve teams in Formula 1 in 2011, eleven ran today, with the final squad – Team Lotus – joining the fray tomorrow.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault* 1m13.769s 93 2. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m13.938s + 0.169s 71 3. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1m14.292s + 0.523s 91 4. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m14.461s + 0.692s 28 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari* 1m14.553s + 0.784s 98 6. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari* 1m15.621s + 1.852s 68 7. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m16.003s + 2.234s 71 8. Vitaly Petrov Renault* 1m16.351s + 2.582s 28 9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes* 1m16.450s + 2.681s 15 10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari* 1m17.214s + 3.445s 19 11. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth* 1m17.335s + 3.566s 77 12. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m18.020s + 4.251s 45 13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes* 1m19.930s + 6.161s 9 All timing unofficial * 2011 car
Vettel and Webber took the covers off the RB7 in Valencia today. © Red Bull Racing
© Red Bull Racing.
Drivers: (1) Sebastian Vettel, (2) Mark Webber; (Reserve) tba.
Team: (Principal) Christian Horner, (Chief Technical Director / Designer) Adrian Newey.
Engine: Renault RS27-2010 90° V8, limited to 18,000 RPM naturally aspirated.
Transmission: Seven-speed gearbox, longitudinally Mounted with hydraulic system for power shift and clutch operation. AP Racing clutch.
Weight (with driver, et al): 640 kg
Buemi and Alguersuari unveil Toro Rosso's 2011 car. © Toro Rosso.
© Toro Rosso
Drivers: (18) Sebastien Buemi, (19) Jaime Alguersuari; (Reserve) Daniel Ricciardo.
Team: (Principal) Franz Tost, (Technical Director) Giorgio Ascanelli.
Engine: Ferrari Type 056 90° V8, limited to 18,000 RPM naturally aspirated, KERS.
Transmission: Seven-speed hydraulic.
Weight (with driver, et al): 640 kg.
The new Mercedes was revealed at the Valencia test. © Merceds GP
Drivers: (7) Michael Schumacher, (8) Nico Rosberg; (Reserve) tba.
Team: (Principal) Ross Brawn, (Technical Director) James Allison, (Chief Designer) Tim Densham.
Engine: Mercedes-Benz 90° V8, limited to 18,000 RPM naturally aspirated.
Weight (with driver, et al): 640 kg
Williams FW33
Williams 2011 interim livery. © Williams F1
© Williams F1
Drivers: (11) Rubens Barrichello, (12) Pastor Maldonado; (Reserve) Valtteri Bottas.
Team: (Principals) Frank Williams and Patrick Head, (Technical Director / Designer) Sam Michael.
Engine: Cosworth CA2010 2.4 L 90° V8, limited to 18,000 RPM naturally aspirated.
Transmission: Seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox with reverse gear.
Weight (with driver, et al): 640 kg
Renault R31
© Lotus Renault GP
Drivers: (9) Robert Kubica, (10) Vitaly Petrov; (Reserve) Bruno Senna, Romain Grosjean, Fairuz Fauzy, Ho-Pin Tung, Jan Charouz.
Team: (Chairman) Gerard Lopez, (Principal) Éric Boullier, (Technical Director) James Allison, (Chief Operating Officer) Patrick Louis, (Chief Designer) Tim Densham.
Race Engineers: (Kubica) Simon Rennie, Jonathan Marshall, (Petrov) Ayao Komatsu, Julien Simon-Chautemps.
Engine: 90° RS27-2010; 18,000 RPM limit.
Transmission: Seven-speed semi-automatic titanium gearbox with reverse gear. “Quickshift” system in operation to maximise speed of gearshifts.
Weight (with driver, et al): 640 kg
Sauber C30
© Sauber Motorsport
© Sauber Motorsport
Drivers: (16) Kamui Kobayashi, (17) Sergio Perez; (Reserve) Esteban Gutierrez.
Team: (Principal) Peter Sauber, (Technical Director) James Key.
Engine: 90° Ferrari V8 naturally aspirated, Type 056; 18,000 RPM limit.
Transmission: Ferrari 7-speed quick-shift carbon gearbox, longitudinally mounted, carbon-fibre clutch.
Weight (with driver, et al): 640 kg
Lotus T128
© Team Lotus
© Team Lotus
© Team Lotus
Drivers: (20) Jarno Trulli, (21) Heikki Kovalainen; (Reserve) tba.
Team: (Principal) Tony Fernandes, (Chief Technical Office) Mike Gascoyne.
Race Engineers: (Jarno Trulli) Gianluca Pisanello, (Heikki Kovalainen) Juan Ramirez
Engine: 90° Renault V8 RS27-2011; 18,000 RPM limit.
Transmission: Red Bull Technologies; 7 forward speed, single reverse; semi-automatic.
Weight (with driver, et al): 640 kg
By Pat Wotton.
In response to Leigh’s post over at Making Up The Numbers in which he warns of the return of the spectre of the pay driver to Formula 1, I decided to reply with some thoughts I’ve been mulling over for some weeks now.
——–
Maldonado was a GP2 Champion in 2010. © http://www.pastormaldonado.com
When Pastor Maldonado was revealed as the second driver at Williams there was a collective groan across F1-fandom.
They’d taken the money instead of retaining the hot talent.
It was expected, but not well received – Williams are better than this, Williams always take talent over money, always.. and yet this time they didn’t.
Perhaps they needed to pay Barrichello’s retainer in order to keep him and his vast technical knowledge with the team.
Of course in days of yore, the number of fans assigning Rubens Barrichello to the category of ‘journeyman’ were legion, including myself – thankfully he’s proven me and many others wrong. He wasn’t really seen as anything special in the mid 1990s, so if he can work and work and turn his image and reputation into a fast, knowledgeable and sought-after driver what’s to say some of these other drivers can’t do the same?
I am not suggesting Rubens was a pay driver, he certainly wasn’t, he struggled for money terribly, I’m saying people didn’t think he was that much more talented than your average midfield driver, some of whom paid to race.
Karthikeyan returns to F1 from the NASCAR Truck Series. © http://www.narainracing.com
The Question of Quality
Worse still when HRT announced the hiring of Narain Karthikeyan in places of fan-favourites Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna, cat calls from fans compared him to the likes of Ricardo Rosset, a long line of 80s and 90s back-of-the-field tuggers, and the hapless Taki Inoue. Karthikeyan may not be the greatest driver to walk the motorsport paddocks, but he’s not Taki Inoue either.
If you give he and Chandhok two days testing he’s probably going to emerge just as fast as his countryman. Where the pair together place is debatable, they aren’t going to win championships this is clear, but do they deserve to be lumped on to motorsport’s great scrapheap? I don’t think they do. To be honest though, their choice of HRT does them no favours at all and it is good Chandhok has gone looking elsewhere.
Paster Maldonado is better than the pair of them, in my opinion. This much should be clear from GP2 where he shone at Monaco and wasn’t too bad elsewhere. He’s come a very long way since his ‘pinball’ reputation of his early GP2 and FR3.5 days where he was very much a hothead, perhaps he was promoted to that level too soon.
If GP2 is F1’s finishing school, it has done a very good job ironing out the Venezuelan’s kinks. A lot of F1 teams would be happy to take him now, you might even say had Williams continued to employ Nakajima perhaps he’d be considered a (slight) step up. It is all relative.
Everyone is right that Hulkenberg should be in that car because he’s probably the hottest talent since Lewis Hamilton, but if a deal couldn’t be done or if Williams really are struggling then there is no shame putting in a guy who is still perfectly competent and costs less.
Perhaps Maldonado is the next Massa, not a title winner but a potential race winner in the right car and a good No.2 driver. Perhaps Hulkenberg didn’t want to stay and has taken the Force India deal to ally himself with Mercedes in the event Michael Schumacher departs sooner rather than later.
Sergio Perez could easily be labelled a ‘pay driver’ too, yet he impressed me with his talent in the few GP2 Asia and then GP2 Main Series races I’ve seen him in (disclaimer: I’ve not seen the 2010 season). The guy isn’t afraid to overtake. You could say the same of his team-mate, who too was derided when he joined due to his lamentable record in the junior series – now many love his attacking style. (Who would’ve thought the Swiss team would hire two attacking drivers?)
Yamamoto struggled during his time in F1. © http://www.sakon-yamamoto.com
Paying the Way and First Impressions
No doubt there are pay drivers in the classic mould, there probably always will be, a case in point being Sakon Yamamoto.
And yet as we discussed last week in the pub, when he could see the pack and the lines of other drivers he was faster. On his own, terrible. Could he learn if placed alongside a true veteran for a year? I think he could, might not be the fastest but he’d potentially stop being hopeless.
And then there’s Milka Duno… Pay drivers still do have a terrible reputation and with drivers like Duno, it is often deserved. What is a problem is when the uninformed label a driver new to their series as a pay driver even though there is no evidence for it, indeed there is evidence to the contrary.
When Franck Montagny entered the IndyCar Series for a round at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, factions of the fan community immediately derided him as “just another foreign pay driver”, despite him being nothing of the sort – well, apart from the part about being foreign.
In fact he’d been scratching around trying to make a living driving anything people would put in front of him, from sportscars to F1 tests to Superleague Formula. Nobody in those paddocks thinks Montagny is a slouch or a pay driver, the only reason he can’t get a season-long deal is because he can’t bring money and in this economy that’s important.
I do think the sponsors doling out this money are finding ways to give it to faster drivers than has traditionally been the case. Whilst there will always be awful members of this club, the overall level of pay drivers has improved.
The likes of Jean-Denis Deletraz are nowhere near the modern F1 grid. Perhaps they aren’t as fast as the available talent, but that doesn’t automatically make all of them terrible.
Jorg Bergmeister secured a surprise pole at Daytona. © grand-am.com
For many in the world of motor racing, January represents something of a lull period.
With the silence that follows post-season testing comes an almost endless period of rolling rumours and stories. Virtually anything to keep motorsport somewhere in the news stream counts.
Christmas and the New Year become yet another distant memory – blurred in some cases – leaving January to feel like a month more akin to car unveiling’s, rather than a period that presents any kind of competitive allure. It is a month that also brings three of the finest motor racing events to the fore. Two of these have already run their particular (the Monte Carlo and Dakar Rallies) and this weekend brings the final event of the month – the 24 Hours of Daytona.
This is to be the 49th running of the sportscar endurance special, which will also open the 2011 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Sixteen Daytona Prototypes are to run on the famed Floridian circuit come Saturday evening, as well as a large field of GT entries. Utilising the Daytona’s twelve-turn road course, the Rolex-sponsored race has become a staple event in the early part of the year and has in the past boasted a number of illustrious victors – including the likes of Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, AJ Foyt, Al Unser (Senior and Junior), Juan-Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti amongst a whole host of others.
The race is one of the few events in the motor racing world that brings together competitors from multiple series’.
2011 sees multiple cars in the Daytona Prototype category from Chip Ganassi, Michael Shank Racing, Action Express Racing and Starworks Motorsport – all of whom are powered by a variety of Porsche, Chevrolet, BMW or Ford engines. Several other teams will be running single car entries.
Over the years, Porsche have reigned supreme at Daytona with 22 victories, but it was still quite a surprise when Jorg Bergmeister claimed the pole for the German manufacturer. The (mainly GT) team is making its Daytona Prototype début this year and with Patrick Long, Seth Neimann and Johannes van Overbeek also riding in the cockpit, it will be interesting if they can maintain their unexpected advantage over a full 24 hours. In claiming the top spot, Bergmeister broke the lap record for the Daytona road course.
Bergmeister was still able to qualify his Flying Lizard’s prepared car just 0.34 of-a-second quicker than the Chevrolet-powered Dallara piloted by SunTrust Racing’s Max Angelelli. The Italian driver was a winner of this event in 2005 and with Ryan Briscoe, Rick and Wayne Taylor alongside, he will be looking to challenge once again. Angelelli took pole in 2010; however that turned into only a 6th place finish.
Ganassi Racing’s secondary team consisting of Scott Pruett, Graham Rahal, Joey Hand and Memo Rojas will line up 3rd in their BMW-Riley, while the Ford-powered Starworks Motorsport Riley machine is next up in 4th. The primary Ganassi team (with Scott Dixon, Jamie McMurray, Montoya and Franchitti) will start 5th.
Daytona débutantes United Autosport placed their Ford-Riley in 9th place with ex-Formula 1 racer Martin Brundle at the wheel, while last year’s winning entry – the Action Express Racing Porsche driven by João Barbosa could do no better than 12th on the grid.
Andy Lally also broke the qualifying record in the GT class, claiming pole for the TRG Porsche GT3 squad. Lally took the spot by some 0.3 of-a-second ahead of the next TRG Porsche GT3 machine piloted by Dominik Farnbacher.
Green flag for the 24 Hours of Daytona is at 8.30pm (GMT) and will – of course – finish twenty-four hours later.
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
| 1. | DP | Jorg Bergmeister | Flying Lizards Motorsports | Porsche Riley | 1:40.099 |
| 2. | DP | Max Angelelli | SunTrust Racing | Chevrolet Dallara | 1:40.133 |
| 3. | DP | Scott Pruett | Chip Ganassi Racing w/F.Sabates | BMW Riley | 1:40.245 |
| 4. | DP | Ryan Dalziel | Starworks Motorsport | Ford Riley | 1:40.250 |
| 5. | DP | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing w/F.Sabates | BMW Riley | 1:40.302 |
| 6. | DP | Antonio Garcia | Spirit of Daytona Racing | Chevrolet Coyote | 1:40.396 |
| 7. | DP | Brian Frisselle | Doran Racing | Ford Dallara | 1:40.468 |
| 8. | DP | AJ Allmendinger | Michael Shank Racing w/Curb,Agajania | Ford Dallara | 1:40.469 |
| 9. | DP | Martin Brundle | United Autosports w/MSR | Ford Riley | 1:40.784 |
| 10. | DP | Alex Gurney | Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing | Chevrolet Riley | 1:40.828 |
| 11. | DP | Oswaldo Negri Jr | Michael Shank Racing | Ford Riley | 1:40.847 |
| 12. | DP | Joao Barbosa | Action Express Racing | Porsche Riley | 1:41.128 |
| 13. | DP | Darren Law | Action Express Racing | Porsche Riley | 1:41.240 |
| 14. | DP | Jan Heylen | Starworks Motorsport | Ford Riley | 1:41.288 |
| 15. | DP | Ricardo Zonta | Krohn Racing | Ford Lola | 1:41.695 |
| 16. | DP | Enzo Potoliccio | Starworks Motorsport | Ford Riley | 1:44.111 |
| 17. | GT | Andy Lally | TRG | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:48.487 |
| 18. | GT | Dominik Farnbacher | TRG | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:48.781 |
| 19. | GT | Jordan Taylor | Autohaus Motorsports | Camaro GT.R | 1:48.821 |
| 20. | GT | Craig Stanton | Magnus Racing | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:49.011 |
| 21. | GT | Nick Tandy | Burtin Racing | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:49.134 |
| 22. | GT | Shane Lewis | Chris Smith Racing | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:49.297 |
| 23. | GT | Ryan Eversley | TRG | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:49.451 |
| 24. | GT | Robin Liddell | Stevenson Motorsports | Camaro GT.R | 1:49.472 |
| 25. | GT | Boris Said | Turner Motorsport | BMW M3 | 1:49.503 |
| 26. | GT | Andrew Davis | Brumos Racing | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:49.540 |
| 27. | GT | Jeroen Bleekemolen | TRG/Black Swan Racing/GMG Racing | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:49.554 |
| 28. | GT | Darryl O’Young | Bullet Racing | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:49.707 |
| 29. | GT | Bryce Miller | Paul Miller Racing | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:49.916 |
| 30. | GT | Wayne Nonnamaker | Team Sahlen | Mazda RX-8 | 1:49.961 |
| 31. | GT | Charles Espenlaub | Dempsey Racing | Mazda RX-8 | 1:49.974 |
| 32. | GT | Sylvain Tremblay | SpeedSource | Mazda RX-8 | 1:50.020 |
| 33. | GT | Jeff Segal | SpeedSource | Mazda RX-8 | 1:50.064 |
| 34. | GT | Ryan Lewis | PR1 Motorsports | BMW M6 | 1:50.135 |
| 35. | GT | James Gue | Dempsey Racing | Mazda RX-8 | 1:50.178 |
| 36. | GT | Oliver Gavin | Banner Racing | Camaro GT.R | 1:50.300 |
| 37. | GT | Randy Pobst | Mitchum Motorsports | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:51.139 |
| 38. | GT | Peter Ludwig | Muehlner Motorsports | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:51.305 |
| 39. | GT | David Empringham | TPN Racing/Blackforest | Ford Mustang | 1:51.528 |
| 40. | GT | Justin Marks | Yellow Dragon Motorsports | Mazda RX-8 | 1:51.847 |
| 41. | GT | Ken Dobson | TRG/Nadeau Motorsports | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:51.983 |
| 42. | GT | JF Dumoulin | Bennett Racing | Ferrari F430 CH | 1:51.996 |
| 43. | GT | Cort Wagner | DragonSpeed | Ferrari F430 CH | 1:53.639 |
| 44. | GT | Rich Grupp | Team Spencer Motorsports | Mazda RX-8 | 1:54.184 |
| 45. | GT | Joe Sahlen | Team Sahlen | Mazda RX-8 | 1:55.203 |
| 46. | GT | Maurice Hull | Rick Ware Racing | Porsche GT3 Cup | 1:57.478 |
Ferrari F150
Ferrari's 2011 Formula 1 charger. © Ferrari
Drivers: (5) Fernando Alonso, (6) Felipe Massa; (Reserve) Giancarlo Fisichella, Jules Bianchi, Marc Gene.
Team: (Principal) Stefano Domenicali, (Technical Director) Aldo Costa.
Race Engineers: (Fernando Alonso) Pat Fry, (Felipe Massa) Rob Smedley.
Engine: 90° Ferrari V8 naturally aspirated, Type 056; 18,000 RPM limit; KERS.
Transmission: 7 forward speed, single reverse; semi-automatic sequential electronically controlled gearbox.
Weight (with driver, et al): 640 kg
The 2011 Force India trio. © Force India
The unveiling of Paul di Resta as Adrian Sutil’s new teammate at Force India was probably not the most unexpected of announcements to be aired yesterday.
The young Scot had found himself in the wings of the Force India garage at many of the Grand Prix in 2010 – for much of the year, it was simply a question of who he would replace. As the season wore on, the needle of favour swung toward Sutil, leaving Vitantonio Liuzzi without a drive.
Unless he were to find himself marooned at Hispania Racing, Liuzzi will once again be on the sidelines; as he was for 2008 and much of 2009. Only this time, Liuzzi’s chance of a seat is much harder, when one takes into account how late into the pre-season we are and Liuzzi’s age – at 29, the Italian pilot is no spring chicken in Formula 1 years.
However Sutil must not get too comfortable either. While his performances certainly stepped up a gear last season, the 28-year-old may be looking over his shoulder throughout this year, for in the background will be Willi Weber’s young charger, Nico Hulkenberg.
Following a brief bleed-in period, Hulkenberg faired quite well at Williams and would certainly still be in the second seat at the Didcot team, were money not such a pressing issue. The second-half of the season brought some very solid results for the then rookie, including a wonderful pole position at Interlagos. Yet a year off for the 23-year-old German is not the most ideal of situations and one can rest assured that Hulkenberg will aim to impress this year, when he takes over the Friday morning role. Whatever the result, it is quite likely that Hulkenberg will in at least one of the Force India seats for 2012.
As for di Resta, by the time Bahrain comes around in March, it will have been 4-and-a-half years since his last competitive run in a single-seater; although the Scot did run at several first practice sessions in 2010. There is some solid pedigree there too – in 2006, di Resta beat current World Champion Sebastian Vettel to the title in the World Series by Renault category. Di Resta is also the reigning DTM Champion.
Success in junior formulae has often played tricks in the past though. The likes of Jan Magnussen, Luca Badoer, Ricardo Zonta, Ralph Firman and many others claimed titles in the minor divisions, only to disappoint when promoted later on. Even Liuzzi entered Formula 1 as the reigning Formula 300 Champion…
One hopes di Resta makes the most of this opportunity.
Will IndyCar UK TV footage in 2011? © Ron McQueeney.
One issue for the IZOD IndyCar Series that has had little acknowledgement is the lack of an apparent TV deal for the UK in 2011.
IndyCar’s contract with Sky Sports ran its course at the end of last year and there a replacement deal has yet to be announced.
While it is understandable that INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard and his team may be concentrating on programmes in the Americas, the series should not ignore another ready made audience on this side of the Atlantic – especially when one considers the number of European drivers based in the Championship. Whether the likes of Eurosport or Motors TV would be willing to take on IndyCar is not known at this stage.
Although probably not ideal for many, indycar.com will still be streaming both the IndyCar Series and Indy Lights sessions live from their website with commentary from the ever reliable radio crew; however I am sure there are many that would rather plonk themselves down in front of the television set instead.
Until then, watch this space.
TheMotorsportArchive.com 